James Stirling
Endlessness and Industry
Brinae Bain
“Jim Stirling is now without the slightest doubt the most widely and sincerely admired British architect with an international top-ten standing only a little below such living legends as Mies van der Rohe and Alvar Aalto.� - Reyner Banham
History of Art 603 Ends of British Modernism Fall 2013 University of Michigan
CONTENTS: Introduction Preston Leicester St. Andrew’s Dorman Long Conclusion
Introduction James Stirling (1923-1992) studied architecture in Liverpool following his service in World War II. The era after the war was highly focused on rebuilding and reconstruction, and architecture became a prominent field. Several new collaborative groups and institutions arose in this period including, the Modern Architectural Research Group (MARS), the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), and the Independent Group (IG). Several key figures emerged in British architecture during the period: Le Corbusier made an impact from France; Peter and Alison Smithson, Reyner Banham, Ronald Jenkins, and Stirling all emerged as influential figures through the IG. Stirling’s association with the Independent Group was more social than intellectual. He did however collaborate
with Michael Pine and Richard Matthews for the This is Tomorrow exhibit in 1956 with the ICA. The exhibit focused on collaborations between artists, architects, painters, and sculptors to introduce a program for the future of art.1 Art’s progression, as the twentieth century moved forward, became an intellectual discussion, especially in architecture. From the ideas of these new architectural thinkers, two new kinds of architecture emerged: academic ‘artarchitecture’ and technological ‘non-art’ architecture. Mark Crinson defines the two: [‘Non-art architecture] exploits the technological advance (scientific discovery), is designed by a team, is anonymous in “character” and functional only in relation to its construction (factory fabrication) not functional in regard to its occupants. [‘Artarchitecture’] is reactionary in as much as
there is no constructional advance, indeed it was built by mass labour…it is designed by one man and has the imprint of prima donna architecture. It completely rejects the factory. It is functional in regards to its occupants. 2
While the two often blurred lines, Stirling identified as an academic architect, embracing artistic design and the role of the client. Despite the inclusion of materiality and factory processes, the functionality in regards to the occupant seemed to be one of Stirling’s highest motives for building design. Stirling rejected the notion that technological architecture would be able to progress in the growing tensions of the Welfare State. Stirling situated himself as an academic stating that because of “social conscience,”3 ‘art architecture’ was the only
way for British architecture to succeed. The Welfare State and the needs of the people contributed to an architecture that supported the inhabitants. His outlook on British Modernism, and what was to become Post-Modernism, differed from many of his contemporaries. One of the largest architectural movements to come out of 1950s Britain was Brutalism. A style that embraced the functionality of concrete construction introduced by Alison and Peter Smithson for low-cost functionality. Reyner Banham defined Brutalism with three characteristics: “1. Memorability as an Image; 2. Clear exhibition of Structure; 3. Valuation of materials ‘as found.’”4 The monolithic structures tend to be created with cast concrete, form simple shapes, and have
the purpose of serving the community. James Stirling refers to Brutalism as “pretentious,” stating that it has no place in the progress of British architecture. 5 This is where Stirling’s interest in the future of architecture differs from his fellow IG members. Stirling’s plan for progressing British architecture was to incorporate elements from the past. During his time in Liverpool, Stirling became quite admired with the industrial buildings that occupied the cityscape; elements of these Victorian era constructions are reflected within his projects. One of the closest ties to these industrial buildings are the materials used; Stirling placed a large emphasis on incorporating manufacturing materials into his modern designs.
The incorporation of varying materials, and exploring their unique abilities was a prevalent theme in the work of Stirling from the very beginning of his career. In 1954 he had a resolution:
Design four houses - 1. Mass concrete 2. Precast and prestressed concrete 3. Steel 4. Brick. Exploiting the aesthetic through the structural potentialities of the various type of construction, integrated to programmatic circulation solutions. Essential one idea buildings - the next step in my development - prototypes for expansion and diffusion. 6
This resolution sets a solid foundation for the work that was to come. The buildings this essay discusses are not only strong prototypes for exploring material aesthetics, but also of expansion.
Expansion, as present in Stirling’s works, often manifests itself as endlessness, a concept that was identified in architecture by Richard Llewellyn-Davies. Davies defines endlessness as having “the element of repetition” continuing to say, “the elevations all consist of similar units repeated a number of times. The units have the same overall dimension…The part is always subordinate to the whole. The whole itself is again left unbounded.” 7 Endlessness becomes a mode for the progression of British architecture, and Stirling uses it as a platform for the introduction of material aesthetic and industrial processes. Endlessness presents itself in three archetypes within Stirling’s work: Modular Repetition, an Endless Grid, and through Extrusion. Several of his buildings embrace
the endlessness concept, each having their own project families, all of similar concepts. The four buildings that I’ve decided to focus on here are: the Preston Housing Estate (1957), the Leicester University Engineering Building workshop wing (1959)8, the St. Andrews residential expansion Andrew Melville Hall (1964), and the plan for the Dorman Long Headquarters (1965). A prominent factor in the decision to discuss these four buildings was the materials used, each focusing on a different material; brick, glass, concrete, and steel respectively. This paper will look at these four projects as academic architectures, incorporating material aesthetics and the adoption of industry through endlessness.
Preston Housing The Preston Housing Estate was one of the many public housing efforts created under the Conservative government during the 1950s and the 1960s. During the period, there was a strong focus by the government to create affordable and functional housing. In regards to Preston, Stirling wanted to establish a connection to the surrounding neighborhoods, while still creating a modern housing development that would promote a sense of community. With the design, Stirling created an environment that would not only house many families, but would establish a modern system in juxtaposition with the old. Stirling comments, “although the density is twice the existing, the new buildings are of similar height and material as the adjoining 19th century Buildings.”9 The development was designed to not only accommodate the needs of the people, but
as a way for a natural community to develop. Stirling believed that Preston’s layout was a decent prototype for ways to rebuild and reconstruct the slums. He criticized tower building, stating that they “probably create an inferior social community. Lifts, in their present form, are a crude and anti-social way of approaching one’s home.”10 Again, Stirling differs from his contemporaries, opposing such buildings like Hallfield Estate, designed by Berthold Lubetkin. As it sat, there were several key elements of Preston that contributed to the building of social community. One of Preston’s most unique aspects is the elevated footpath along the three story wing. The path emulates the Smithson’s exploration of ‘streets in the sky’ from their Golden Lane Competition entry of
“These cottages, considered purely as architecture in the abstract, are a joy to look at.� -Reyner Banham
1951. Like Golden Lane, the walkway becomes a place of social interaction for the inhabitants. The pathway facilitates movement and communication; it was created as a space for people, especially children, to gather. Unlike Golden Lane, Preston’s pathways are open to the sky; this allows for a greater association with units across the courtyard, but also with the adjacent town, allowing for a greater connection between the occupants and the existing neighborhood. The goal with Preston then was to establish a social atmosphere in the industrial town that reflected the town’s traditional past; he did this through a modular repetition and exploring the aesthetic of brick. The estate was composed of three separate entities: a wing of four story units,
an L-shaped wing of three story units, and five isolated units for the elderly across the street. Today, only the lofts for the elderly remain. For the discussion of endlessness, the four and three story wings are the primary focus. The wings are composed of townhouse-sized sections, that are repeated to create the structure; they do not have a formal ending. While in theory the repetition of these segments could be repeated forever, Preston’s endlessness is limited by the city block. The endlessness then becomes situated within theory, nevertheless, the modular repetition still serves as an archetype. The modular repetition also creates a foundation for this project as a precedent to architecture’s adoption industrial manufacturing. Preston
was
one
of
the
great
British industrial towns, situated in the north, it was one of the first to establish new manufacturing techniques of the Industrial Revolution. Stirling adopts industry into architecture through the use of modular repetition. Repetition, formed by unit-by-unit construction, is imitative of assembly line production. Furthering the connection to industry, is the use of brick. The brick chosen for the Preston Housing Estate was typically used in industrial buildings; it was cheap, had sharp edges, and a semi-reflective surface, Stirling chose these bricks for their “out-of-context”11 effect. The use of these shiny bricks contributed to an aesthetic of ‘shiny surface’ that would become a predominant feature of both Stirling, and James Gowan’s work.12 The brick served as an industrial symbol, but
also as a provocative relation to Victorian building techniques. This relation to the British past manifested in the twentieth century idea of occupant functionality was a staple for Stirling’s mode of architectural progression in Britain.
Leicester Engineering Workshop Wi The Leicester Engineering building was designed by the partnership two years after the Preston Housing Estate; it is the most notable building of the team’s projects. The building is composed of two main structures, the office tower and the workshop wing, each having very distinct programs. The office tower facilitates faculty, private labs, and educational lectures; the workshop contains heavy machinery and other engineering necessities; both designed to accommodate the stop and go circulation of 300 occupants. Because of site limitations and occupant request, several special considerations had to be taken into consideration for the plan. One of the main factors for the building’s composition was the size of the
site. Prior to this structure, the city had restricted the university to a height of three stories, a mandate that would need to be altered to accommodate the occupancy of the students.13 The partnership took in to account the needs of the engineering department, and designed a building based on occupational functionality. For the workshop wing to have proper directional lighting, the roof had to be rotated fortyfive degrees as the building site could not accommodate the building with a north-south orientation. There were also several other functions added specifically for the engineering department: a water tank was placed on the top of the office tower in order to allow adequate pressure to reach the laboratories in the workshop shed; special access doors were installed on the second story of the workshop to
ing
allow for large equipment and machinery to be installed for the aerodynamics and electrical workshops.14 While there were several functional elements to Leicester, much of the design was an aesthetic choice, especially when highlighting Leicester’s various materials. With regards to the concept of endlessness, the workshop shed is the focus of discussion. The roof of the shed is composed of several rows of glass prisms all turned to face north. The roof is unbounded, repetitive, and the rows have a uniform width, all are qualifications for endlessness as proposed by LlewellynDavies.15 The roof structure could be expanded conceptually to no end; on a grid system either the rows could be extended, or more rows could be added. From the
correct perspective, the rows of glass can be envisioned to stretch infinitely into the distance. The archetype of the endless grid, can be seen in other projects of James Stirling, such as the plan for the Olivetti Headquarters in Milton Keynes (1971). That building too exists on an grid-plan, each row and column has the potential to be extended. The Leicester Engineering building continues the use of brick from Preston but additionally emphasizes glass and steel; the use of glass is a prominent aspect of this structure, primarily on the roof of the workshop shed. The materials used were an important aspect in Leicester’s construction. Besides having low costs, patent glass, brick, and tile were adapted to fit the needs of the building. Patent glazing
on glass was typically used for industrial purposes; the use on the office tower was to create a common theme between both structures, “ denying [a] hierarchical difference.”16 This relates the industrial program of the workshop shed to the academic program of the office tower. The building’s functionality also provides a connection to industry. Stirling created a circulation diagram that shows movement throughout the building, the illustrated movement is smilier to the movement of a conveyor belt through a factory.17
past. The glass and brick are customary elements of British building and industry, but the use in Leicester serves as a foundation for aesthetic exploration. The brick used in the construction of Leicester was ornamental; it was used to cover the concrete foundation.19 Stirling’s interest in material aesthetics plays a crucial role in Leicester, with this building, he establishes himself as an academic architect.
Amanda Lawrence describes Leicester as having roots in historic architecture but also having direct link to the contemporary British Industrial vocabulary.18 Stirling and Gowan’s use of materials certainly reflects a traditional
Olivetti, Milton Keynes, 1971
“It really looks as if the grand old myths of funcitnalism have come true for once, an that beauty, of a sort, has been given as a bonus for the honest service of need.” -Reyner Banham
St. Andrews: Andrew Melville Hall Two of the planned eight wings of the St. Andrews residential expansion, Andrew Melville Hall, were completed in 1964. The buildings were intended to be reflections of one another, each wing was to resemble a docked ship; the nautical theme was a connection to the landscape. The residence sits on a ledge that was a cliff face before the sea receded;20 now the North Sea is about a half a mile away. One of the most interesting things regarding Andrew Melville Hall, in terms of one of Stirling’s projects, is the fact that it is a Brutalist design. Stirling’s interest in Brutalism, as a way to progress British architecture, was nonexistent. His interest in the movement however relied on the material composition, and that is certainly the case with St. Andrews.
Andrew Melville Hall was constructed with precast concrete, a material that had to be shipped in from Edinburgh. As Stirling describes: Labour and materials were unavailable in this part of Scotland, and the repetitive elements of the building were therefore prefabricated in Edinburgh and transported to the site. The assemblage method is visually stressed by the contradiagonal ribbing on the surface of precast concrete units, which articulates each unit in the wall.21
The precast concrete played a very central role in St. Andrew’s construction. Not only does the concrete characterize the building’s Brutalist identification, but more importantly provides a mode for repetition. The modular repetition of St.
Andrews is formed by the repetitive room sized modules. The rooms reflect across the center of each wing; they are angled from the plane of the building. This not only allows for the student bedrooms to view the sea, but also creates a stacked effect of the repeated sections. Looking at the top-view plan, you can see that the building has no formal ending, and like Preston, the building’s sections could theoretically be repeated infinitely. However, also like Preston, Andrew Melville Hall’s endlessness is limited. Each wing was constructed to visually resemble a ship docked at port, and each wing is only extended to the point of resemblance. The modular repetition that allows for the endless effect becomes limited, however the repetitiveness becomes
emphasized with the use of precast concrete panels. The material is ribbed, a repetitive pattern that reflects the aesthetic of the whole. Each panel was added piece by piece, again reflective of assembly line construction. Mark Crinson discusses Stirling’s opinion of the assembly, Stirling found that the logic of a prefabricated system assembled on site was an apt way also of expressing the repeated individual bedrooms within the vessel of the residence as a whole. It is this that gives the building its sense of anthropological rightness.22
Crinson further discusses this point stating that this construction method and the individualized rooms appropriately distinguishes the individualized study
spaces from the social context of the third floor common wing. Similarly to the walkway at Preston, the third floor of St. Andrews was created to be a space of social collaboration. This area is again reflective of Golden Lane’s streets in the sky. The environment of the third floor drastically contrasts the individualized dormitory rooms. With these two divergent spaces, Stirling created a building that highly focused on the occupants. The disparity between the individual space and the common space reflect the relationship between student and institution; each serving specific needs, but both providing complete functionality to the student and their education.
“These buildings have extraordinary circumstances which made considerations of structure top of the hierarchy of importances.” -James Stirling
Dorman Long: Industrial Headquarte Dorman Long was on of Britain’s top steel manufacturers prior to the nationalization of the industry in 1968. The project for the proposed headquarters building in 1965 embodies the steel the company stands on. Extrusion is a manufacturing process that is used in the creation of steel, but also applies to the Dorman Long building, in which extrusion has become a significant aspect of the plan. Richard Scherr defines extrusion in architecture: While the cross-section of an extrusion can spatially establish highly variable, hierarchical relationships, any given section must also be seen as a constant, as it has the same shape as any other section taken along its length. [Further stating,] in all cases, the extrusion or
overall mass is an index of the initially conceived sectional template that in turn, generates contingent readings in plan and elevation.23 This scheme requires a continuous, uniform shape along the length of the building, much like the plan for the Dorman Long headquarters. It design is one that can literally be expanded or stretched into the distance. Crinson refers to the Dorman Long plan as Stirling’s “most machine-like” design, influenced by the industrial implements of the steel factories in the nearby setting.24 The building’s steel exoskeleton emphasized the industrial interest. The structure’s focal interest is primarily the steel I-beams that occupy the angled elevation.
ers
The steel facade is a primary example of Stirling’s choice to explore material aesthetic. The design of the I-beams could have manifested in several differing variations, all around the same cost and structural soundness. The decision was arbitrary, Stirling notes that design dependent on structural expression is superficial.25 The continuously stretched steel provides a track that extends the building; when looking at the facade it is evident that the I-beams are created with the specific intention of emphasizing Dorman Long’s industrial creation. These beams also emphasize the endlessness of the building. Stirling’s design was created with the ability to physically be extended, having the most realistic adaptation of endlessness. He
created diagrams that show the building extended to three times the planned length, incorporating the nearby highway, forcing the structure to become a bridge between the industrial landscape and the passerby. Stirling was inspired for the plan by these setting of these steel works, cooling towers, and slag heaps, noting the “satanic” qualities.26 The fourteen story building was to act as a a screen between the two realms. The building’s triangular design accommodated the variances in circulation of its occupants. The larger floors toward the bottom of the building were designed to incorporate large meeting rooms, drawing offices, restaurants, and computer centers. The upper floors were narrower, they were designed to contain smaller
offices, much like the floors of Leicester’s office tower. The design incorporated a bus station, for local site transportation, as well as transportation to the town.27 The building, like the others, placed a strong focus on occupant functionality. It seems then, Dorman Long is the pinnacle of Stirling’s adoption of industry through ‘art-architecture’; Stirling designed a manufacturing headquarters and incorporated not only the aesthetic exploration of steel, but took into account the functional needs of the occupant. With Dorman Long, the concept of endlessness was not only theorized, but became a reality. Stirling created a plan for a building that could actually be endless.
Conclusion When looking at Stirling’s designs, it is apparent that consideration for the occupant was one of Stirling’s primary objectives. While he explored material aesthetic in his designs, “beauty” was never a presentation topic: I find that, when making presentation of a project to the Client, we must never talk about aesthetics and explanations must always be in terms of common sense, function and logic. If you mentioned the world “beauty” their hair would stand on end and you’d probably lose the commission. Perhaps this philistine attitude is, in some ways beneficial as it probably means what a design can never be far removed from common sense and logic.28
What Stirling does then, is design a building for the occupants. Further, Stirling’s emphasis on presentation is strongly communicated through his use of axonometric
drawings. Crinson remarks that Stirling used axonometric drawing early in his design process.29 Not only do axonometric drawings logically lay out a plan in detail, for presentation purposes, they strip designs of material specificity. As Stirling placed a high emphasis on materials used, the interest in axonometric drawings must have strictly depended on the logical representation of the plan and its parts. Today, only two and one third of the buildings discussed remain out of three. The university buildings, St. Andrews and Leicester are still used for their original purposes. The majority of the Preston Housing Estate was demolished several years ago, today all that remains is the housing for the elderly. Because the steel industry nationalized in 1968, the Dorman Long building was never built.
What is evident of these four projects is Stirling’s interest in exploring the material aesthetic. The way in which he does this is through endlessness, arguably a concept that allows for the adoption of industry into architecture. While Stirling’s interest in factory fabrication and manufacturing presents itself in his projects, it is clear that Stirling is an academic. His emphasis is on the occupants, and his aesthetic exploration is, seemingly, primarily for himself. Jim Stirling is now without the slightest doubt the most widely and sincerely admired British architect with an international top-ten standing only a little below such living legends as Mies van der Rohe and Alvar Aalto. - Reyner Banham
Bibliography *Photographs and diagrams found from the sources below. Satellite imagery is from Google Maps. Banham, Reyner. “Coronation Street, Hoggartsborough,” New Statesman. (Feb. 1964) 200. Banham, Reyner. “The New Brutalism.” Architectural Review. 118 (1955) 354-361. Banham, Reyner. “The Style for the Job.” New Statesmen. (Feb. 1964) 261. Bullock, Nicholas. Building the Post-War World. New York: Routledge, 2002. Crinson, Mark. Stirling and Gowan: Architecture From Austerity to Affluence. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012. Lawrence, Amanda Reeser. James Stirling: Revisionary Modernist. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013. Lingwood, James. “This is Tomorrow,” The History of Exhibitions: Beyond the Ideology of the White Cube. Lecture. (2009) Llewellyn-Davies, Richard. “Endless Architecture,” Architectural Association Journal. (July 1951) 106-113. Scherr, Richard. “Architecture as Index: Toward a Theory of Contingency.” Journal of Architectural Education. (May 1991) 172-181. Stirling, James. “Anti-Structure.” Zodiac. (1968) 51-63. Stirling, James. Buildings and Projects: 19501974. New York: Oxford University Press, 1975.